Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is not confused about who deserves the praise after winning the NBA championship.
During Game 5 of the NBA finals, Mazzulla wore a black crewneck shirt on the court sideline. But after his team defeated the Dallas Mavericks in a 106–88 rout, Mazzulla stripped off the long-sleeve shirt to reveal a second shirt underneath.
‘If we win the championship this year, we’re flying to Jerusalem, and we’re walking from Jericho to Jerusalem.’
That shirt communicated a powerful — yet humble — message.
“But first … let me thank God,” the shirt said.
Mazzulla, the youngest NBA head coach, is a devout Catholic, speaking frequently about the importance of his Christian faith. He is no stranger to public displays of faith either.
One of his pregame rituals, for example, includes going on a prayer walk around the empty TD Garden arena — the Celtics’ home court in Boston — so that he can pray the rosary in peace.
And in a documentary that aired last month, the 35-year-old coach revealed where he planned to go if his team won the NBA championship: Israel.
“If we win the championship this year, we’re flying to Jerusalem, and we’re walking from Jericho to Jerusalem,” Mazzulla said.
“And it will be kind of like just our reconnect. But we went last year, and we stopped right along this mountainside of the Kidron Valley, and you could see a path in between the mountain … during the time, the only way that [Jesus] could have gotten from Jericho to Jerusalem was through this valley. And right there I was like, ‘We have to walk that,'” he continued.
“Most people go to Disney World or whatever, but I think [the Holy Land is] the most important place to go back and recenter yourself,” Mazzulla said.
In 2022, Mazzulla went viral when a reporter asked him about the “royal family” — Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton — attending a Boston Celtics game. Mazzulla told the reporter he is “only familiar with one royal family.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Mazzulla said.
The coach also went viral last week when he shut down a reporter for asking a loaded racial question.
“For the first time since 1975, this is the NBA Finals where you have two black coaches. Given the plight, sometimes, of black head coaches in the NBA, do you think this is a significant moment? Do you take pride in this? How do you view this, or do you not see this at all?” the reporter asked.
“I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches?” Mazzulla fired back.
Enough said.
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Source: TheBlaze
